Stick to the Status Quo

Our ultrasound on Tuesday went very well! Our little one is in the 

48th percentile for size, so little Webby is actually just slightly 

above average. They estimate the current weight to be 5 pounds, 7 

ounces, which is exactly what it should be at 34 weeks!

Webby definitely looks like a baby now - we could see little chubby 

cheeks and little baby fists punching around.

To get the right angles to measure the baby via ultrasound, I had to 

lie on my back, which causes the baby to rest on my major blood veins, 

reducing circulation to important parts of my body. So I nearly passed 

out during the ultrasound, but the doctor had me roll onto my side and 

got me some juice and I felt better.

She did notice that my amniotic fluid levels were slightly above 

normal, so we are having another ultrasound on October 6 to just 

follow-up and check in on everything.

Starting the week of Oct 6, we will be at the doctor's office on a 

weekly basis until the baby is here. It's getting so close!

And for those of you wondering, no we still do not know if Webby is a 

boy or a girl. Even our doctor doesn't know :)

34 Week Picture

And if this works at all, it's sure to be sideways... But that's me on
Saturday, holding Stefany's daughter Laila. Check out my new glasses
too!

Fun with Numbers

SIX: Weeks left until our due date (and some minor event in American politics). Also, the number of days until I will be contacting our short-term disability group to set up my maternity leave. 

FIVE: The baby's current approximate weight (in pounds).

FOUR-to-one: the ratio of males to females in our house if the baby is a boy (including the cats). I may be severely outnumbered.

THREE: Weeks until we are considered full-term (37 weeks), and the doctors would not try to stop labor if it started.

TWO: Number of hearts currently beating in my body.

ONE: Little baby we can't wait to meet!

Time seems to be passing much more quickly now. We have our ultrasound this afternoon!

I'm starting to think about things like packing, making lists of who to call when the baby comes, and how to organize the nursery. I plan to spend the first weekend in October accomplishing all those things - as well as doing all the baby's laundry - crib sheets, blankets, clothes, socks, and hats!

I have a picture taken Saturday that I will try to post, but it's been giving me some problems! 

You say goodbye [summer], I say hello [fall]

The baby and I had our 32-week check in with our doctor yesterday. I managed to gain five pounds in the last two weeks, and unfortunately I don't think I can attribute much of that to the little one (although I'm sure I can blame at least half of it on the enormous Lake Elmo Inn brunch I had with my Cutler family over Labor Day weekend).

Mostly things looked good all around, but my uterus is measuring a little smaller than it should be at this point, so at our next appointment my doctor is going to do an ultrasound to check on the little one and make sure all is well. She said it's most likely that we just have a slightly smaller than average baby (which I am ok with!), but it's better for us to just double check on everything. So two weeks from today (Sept. 23), we will get a third chance to see the our little one via ultrasound. And no, we still will not be finding out if it's a boy or a girl, so you all can wait another eight weeks to find out too!

Just think, within a few days of each other (or the same exact day if my prediction is true), you'll not only get to find out if our baby is a boy or a girl, but you'll also find out who the next President of the United States is!! (I think the former is more exciting, although the latter probably will have better press coverage.)

My doctor also told me that it's time for me to start to slow down a bit more and try to take it easy. She also told me to get more sleep and not to feel guilty about watching an extra movie or two. My hips and back are starting to become more painful, especially when I haven't made sure to get enough rest the previous day. So, anyone who's interested in some TV/Movie marathons, let me know (especially if you want to sit and watch The West Wing and cross stitch - you know who you are, Stacey). If anyone wants to go for a brisk jog, enjoy yourself. I'll be curled under a blanket with a cup of apple cider watching TV with my kitties.

Silly pictures

Photo booth pictures - just for fun*

*And for Stef, who tells me to update more often

Two months..

We've gone from counting down from nine months to counting down from nine weeks. Our due date is exactly two months from today and we are ever more excited! 

August was a busy month with multiple doctor's appointments, the end of childbirth prep classes, visits from out of town family and friends, not to mention our usual work schedules. I can't believe the summer passed so quickly, but I'm looking forward to fall. I am definitely ready for less heat and humidity - I know Josh is too. And after today, the State Fair traffic/parking will be out of our neighborhood!

I spent a good portion of Thursday morning at work reviewing the company's policies on maternity leave and talking to our HR generalist to get details figured out. My last day at work will be Oct. 31 - Happy Halloween to me!! The bank gives eight weeks of maternity leave from the baby's birthdate, so I'll be on leave through the holiday season, which will be nice - I may even take an extra week of leave to get through the new year, if necessary (they'll pull from sick and vacation time). I'll also only be working half days the final week of October and taking several other half days or vacation days in the meantime. I have to use my remaining vacation before I go on leave or else I lose it at the end of the year. But I am definitely ok with some extra time off!

Our remaining weekends and evenings are starting to fill rapidly - in two weeks Punch will be opening their new restaurant on Grand Ave, so we're looking forward to going to the opening celebration of that. We have many family and friends with birthdays - Vickie's good friends Lara and Leann, Vickie's dad (Jeff), Vickie's brother (Robin), Josh, and Josh's friend Jake. We'll have doctor's appointments every other week of September and every week of October. 

Then once November hits it'll just be a waiting game. We do have two family birthdays in early November that the baby could potentially share a birthday with - Vickie's step-sister Char on Nov 6 and Vickie's mom on Nov 11. Then there's a relatively minor political event on Nov 4... 

I'll try to update more frequently in the coming months as there should be more to report :)